Easel



Sept 2 1924. 1,507,384

F. W. KNOWLTON EASEL Filed Jan. 19. 1924 Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EASEL.

Application filed January 19, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK XV. Known TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of \Vestchester and State of New York, have invented an Easel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in easels of that particular type supporting a drawing-board for the convenience of a person using the same.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an easel that is serviceable more especially as an article of school furniture for use in teaching children in the graded schools, to be used by the scholars as Well as the teacher, including in the present in stance an arrangement by which the sheets of drawing-paper in attaching them to the board are punctured for convenience in binding them together.

A further object of my invention is to provide an easel of this general type in which the drawing-board may be readily and conveniently adjusted to different inclinations to suit the person using the same; the construction and assemblage of the parts constituting the easel being such that it may be built by one of ordinary skill in the use of tools, as for instance by school children having a limited training in this respect.

With these principal objects in View my invention consists in the particularconstruction of the framework of the easel to provide'for an adjustment of the inclination of the drawing-board, and in the particular construction of the drawing-board forming an essential part of the easel for the purpose intended; all as hereinafter described and specifically set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1. is a perspective view of my improved easel.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View through the center of the easel.

Fig. 4; is a detail sectional veiw through the lower portion of the drawing-board to show a plan View of the ledge on said board.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating the construction of the upper part of the drawing-board.

In carrying out my inventionI construct a framework comprising side pieces 6 0 Serial No. 687,244.

spaced a suitable distance apart according to the width of ease-l desired, and brace these side pieces by means of a lower horizontally disposed board or shelf 7 an in termediate face-board 8 and a rear crosspieoe 9, the latter being preferably located near the upper ends of said side pieces, and to more firmly support the completed structure in upright position foot-pieces 10 are attached to the lower ends of the side pieces to extend readward therefrom. In the present instance the forward edge of the upper portion of each side piece 6 is cut away to form a series of ledges or steps 6 6 6 for adjustment of the inclination of the drawing-board as hereinafter explained, the ledges or steps on one of the side pieces being in horizontal planes with the corresponding or companion ledges or steps on the other side piece. The frame is also provided with shelves 11 at opposite sides thereof suitably secured to the side pieces 6 6, and of course additional shelves may be provided as well as drawers (not shown) such as commonly employed in structures of this kind.

As the easel is more especially designed for use in a school-room for drawing and other work employed in teaching the pupils the board 12 forming the front thereof is herein termed a drawing-board and is hinged at its lower end to the upper edge of the faceboard 8 of the frame, being of less width than the distance between the side pieces 6 6 to swing back and forth between the same, and as the hinges, 13, are attached to the rear side of said drawing and face boards the forward movement of the drawing-board is limited to the upright position (indicated in dotted lines Fig. 3) by contact of the meeting edges-its rearward movement being limited by the cross-piece 9 of the frame. To support or hold the drawing-board at an intermediate position, and thus provide for an adjustment of its inclination to suit a person using the easel, a cross-bar or rod 14 is placed across the frame from one step to another in the rear of said drawing-board for it to rest against. In the present instance I have provided for three adjustments but it will be obvious that the degree of inclination of the drawing-board in fixed position may be varied to a greater extent by providing additional ledges or steps, and it will be understood that the cross-bar or rod 1 1 is removable, that is loose upon the ledges or steps, so that it may be shifted from one set to another. The stepped construction of the side pieces of the frame of the easel not only provides for adjusting the inclination of'the drawing-board by using the cross-bar or rod 14 in the manner described but these ledges or steps also provide a convenient means for aiding one in drawing horizontal lines on the board or drawing paper attached thereto, in such instance the ruler or red, as 15 (dotted lines Figs. 2 and 3), rests upon the forward ends of companion ledges or steps of the series corresponding with the location of the line. In front of thedrawing-board at the lower edge thereof is a narrow ledge 16, and upon this may be placed loosely -a glass strip 17 to receive utensils used in drawing, &c., and to aid in drawing vertical lines the upper surface paper being'attached to the board by thumbtacks, as usually practised, I provide means that will not only secure the drawing-p aper *to the board but will puncture the same for convenience in binding a number of sheets together by a string or a conventional loose- -leaf binder. For the-purposes mentioned a-detachable strip 19 is secured to the upper edge of the drawing-jboard by pins 20, said .pins being dowelledi-nto the strip and glued thereto with' their outer ends sharpened or pointed to pierce the sheet of paper, the

upperedge of'the board 12 being provided with holes 21 to receive'the pins. The pins are spaced apartas shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,'=butif the sheets of drawing paper are to be bound in a loose-leaf binder the pins 20 may :be arranged accordingly. The sheet of drawing-paper is attached to the board as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5; that .is,a portion is folded over the upper edge of "the :board 12 so that said sheet of paper wLill'lie against said board, as illustratedin :Fig. 1, and the removable strip 19 is then secured in place by entering the pins 20 into the *holes 21,,puncturing thesheet of drawing-paper in the operation.

' Aside from the ad'ustment of the inclination of the drawing-board and attaching the drawingwpaper to-said board the easel is used in ithe same manner as other easels of this general type, but the particular con struction of the easel shown and -descr1bed not only provides a simple and effective'arrangement for adjusting the drawing-board and attaching sheets of paper to the same but also provides an article of school furniture that can be constructed at small we pense andwhich will be of special usefulness in teaching children in the primary grades. Furthermore, attention may be directed to the utility of the ledge 1617 in addition to that of holding drawing utensils; that is it will also serve to keep a childs clothes from coming in-contac'twith the drawing, the glass-top 17' also allows cleaning to, be done more readily, and for the same purpose glass tops may be placed on the shelves 11, the latter also "receiving drawing utensils, paints, &c. l/Vhen the easel is made for schools of the primary grade, as for instance kindergarten work,-

I propose to decorate the side pieces 6=6with pictures pleasing to children, particularly those illustrating fairy stories, but as 'it is customary to finish "articles of furniture in this manner no stress is laid onthis feature of the complete device and it is not so illustrated in the drawings.

The easel is not only used for the purpose of making drawings but is also well adapted for that method of teaching whereby concrete work in arithmetic, geography, history, language, etc, may be carried out.

I claim:

1. An easel comprising a frame :formed of spaced apart upright side pieces having stepped horizontal ledgesat the upper part of the forward edges thereof, a cross-piece between said side pieces near their lower ends, a face board' attached between the forward edges of the side pieces above the cross-piece and below the aforesaid ledges, and a cross-bar at the rear end of the frame near the upper end thereof; :together with drawing-board hinged :to the upper edge of the face-board 1 to swing between theside *pieces and-limited in its rearward movement by the cross-bar, the hinges :being rat the rear of the face-iboard and' dra-wing-board so that the meeting edges limit :the forward movement of :the latter to upright position,

a forwardly'pro jecting ledge attached to the lower end of the 'rdrawing-zboard, and aremovable rod to rest on rtheledgesof the side pieces across the back of the drawing-board to support it at an inclination.

2. An easel comprisinga frame formed of spaced apart upright side piece having stepped horizontal ledges at the upper part of the forward edges thereof, across-piece between said side .piecesheartheir lower ends, a face-board between the forward edges of the side piecesabove thecross-piece and below the aforesaid ledges, *and a .crossbar at the rear end of'the frame near the upper .end thereof together with a draw- =ing-board hinged to .the upperedge of the face-board to swing betWeen the side pieces and limited in its rearward movement by the crossbar, a detachable strip at the upper edge of the drawing-board having 6 spaced apart pins engaging holes in the edge of said drawing-board to puncture and hold a sheet of paper thereon, and a removable rod to rest on the ledges across the back of the drawing-board to support it at an inclination, the ledges projecting forwardly to receive a ruler across the front of the draW ing-board for the purpose of drawing horizontal lines.

FRANK V. KNOWLTON. 

